A Bittersweet Apprentice
by Demitri
Summary: Dara's dream has always been to learn the ways of the Jedi, but slavery holds her back. When her brother is kidnaped and she is given the chance at her dream, will her power to do evil take over her will to do good?


**A/N:** The following characters in this story are mine (Dara-Lei Nigh, Daano-Seme Nigh, Taong Deuo, Shadowy figure (Arcoy), and Salainow Kenobi). The only ones that aren't are (Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Sideous). They belong to George Lucas, Lucas Arts, and whoever else owns these characters.

                Most of my story takes place between episode I and episode II. The first chapter, however, is exactly during the Tatooine scene (in episode I) when Qui-Gon Gin, Jar-Jar Binx and "Padme" or Amidalla were there to repair the ship. So the Boonta Eve race in this is the exact one from the movie. I hope this little tidbit of information will clear up any confusion while reading the first chapter of A Bittersweet Apprentice.  (And just to let you know, the shadowy figure in this chapter isn't Darth Sideous, it's Arcoy)

**Introduction**

                My name is Dara-Lei Nigh. I used to live in a small village on Tatooine, a planet in the outer rim. My younger brother and I were slaves, belonging to Taong Deuo, a wealthy gambler who wasted most of his money, betting on the pod races, and leaving the blame to me for letting him lose the large sums of money.

                I'd tell you my family history, but I honestly don't know very much. All I know is that my father and his brother were very powerful Jedi knights. My father has been dead for as long as I can remember. My mother used to tell me that he had to save our people by fighting in, what is today called, the "Dark War". It was a huge battle between the good and dark side. I still don't completely understand it, but I like to sound like I do. My younger brother, Daano, and I were sold, when I was just 5, and he was still a baby, at 3. My mother was sold as well to a different wealthy mechanique, on Nanoway, I think. 

                I promised her I would raise Daano to be a good and healthy worker. I swore I would take care of him and not let anything happen to the both of us. My promise has been broken, and I am still trying to get him back. This is my story of good and evil, and where I stand between them.

I had been let home from labor early, because a sandstorm was on its way, and I was happy too. I wiped the dirty sweat from my forehead, and took in a deep breath, held it for a second, and let it all out in one big huff. Walking over to the water bucket I yelled to my brother, "Daano! Hurry up, well be caught in the storm!" in mid-sentence I cupped my hands into the cool clear water and threw them at my face, splashing my parched skin, and ridding me of the filthy, salty perspiration. Grabbing my tan, baggy shirt sleeve I dried my face and looked up to see my brother standing in front of me, with his hands behind his back and a wryly smile from ear to ear. "What?" I said suspiciously. " I'll tell you at home, C'mon." 

                He grabbed my arm, and pulled me out into the already quite windy streets toward our whitemud built house. I tried to see what was in his free hand, but a thin layer of sand blanketed the atmosphere. Even when hit in the face with a small gust full, it feels like a thousand small needles pricking you harshly. We got to our port, and he let go of my hand, punching in our code on the keypad. The orange steel door opened and we walked inside. 

                I threw my tote bag onto the floor, and sighed. Daano wasted no time pulling me down with him onto the cushioned chairs in our modest living room. These are the only homes available to us, and we neither have the time nor money to furnish it the way we would like. I closed my eyes shaking my head, "Now what was it you wanted to show me?" He pushed his closed fist out in front of me. My gaze fell from him, to his fist back to him. "Go ahead, take it" he said nudging his hand more to me. I hesitantly opened his palm to reveal coins. Not just worthless gallos, our normal weeks pay, but 100 piece gameons! It takes 10 gallos to equal 1 gameon, and here right in front of me was atleast 5 years worth of pay.

                I picked one up gazing at it in amazement. "Where did you get all of this money!?" I exclaimed. He didn't say anything at first, and I realized that something was very wrong. I clenched the coin in my fist and repeated myself. "Daano, where did you get this much money?" 

                He hesitated. "I-I won it." I put the coin back in his still outreached hand. "What do you mean you won it." I stared at him straight in the eyes so he knew that I wanted the whole truth.  "I bet on the pod race at Boonta Eve. There was word spreading around that a human racer named Anakin Skywalker was going to win. I would have told you, but you were working." His tone quickened, "and I didn't want to disturb you, because you seemed to already be under enough stress, and you, you" He stopped trying to explain the story, and I could tell that tears were welling up behind his eyes. "I won it for us! So we could have a better life! Aren't you happy?"

                I paused for a moment. Wait, Skywalker? Why does that last name sound so familiar? I had the strangest feeling that I had heard that name before. Like it wasn't just any old last name, it was significant to me in some way.  My moment of unreality was shaken back to life when I felt a teardrop hit my hand, and I heard Daano start to cry.

                "I just can't do anything right can I!?!" He shouted through his tears as he stood up and thew the money at the ground. He began to stomp off to his room. "Daano!!! You get back here!" I stood up, my hands in fists at my sides. He turned around and wiped some tears off of his cheek, an angry look on his face. "Daano, you should have asked me first, before you went off betting!" 

                "You were working, and..and…"

                I finished his sentence, "And you knew I would say no."

                "Well.."

                "Well what!?" He didn't say anything. "There's no excuse for doing this Daano! What if you were to loose? Then how would we pay for all of the money you bet!?! HUH? Oh, and worse, what if Deuo found out? You know that he forbids us from betting on the races!" He started to tear up again, but quickly rubbed the drops away. "I can't believe that you did this. I thought I taught you better." I shook my head in disgust. 

                He looked at me and opened his mouth as if to say something, and closed it again. But opened it and said quietly. "I didn't mean to get you mad. I just wanted to set us free." 

                "I know, Daano, but not like this, not by betting. You know how bad gambling is."

                "But I didn't loose. I won. I won, and got 900 gameons for us, Dara. I didn't get caught, and Deuo doesn't know, and he never will. Your always telling me that one day we are going to save up enough money to get off this little planet, and now we have the money. Can't you just be happy?

                "I can't be happy knowing that you could have lost the bet, and we could be left with nothing. Nothing except maybe a beating from Deuo."

                "But Dara! I didn't lose, can't you see?! I didn't lose!" He picked up a gameon by his foot and threw it at me. I instinctively caught it before it hit my face, and he turned and stomped away to his room. I let him go this time. He needed some time to realize that what he did was wrong, and to think about the way he overreacted. Or was the way he acted so wrong? I was beginning to think that I overreacted. And the worst feeling anyone could get swept over me, an emotion worse than slavery, labor, and whippings. I was beginning to drown in the black pools of guilt.

                I picked up all of the coins on the floor and put them in a bowl on the table. I did it very slowly, picking up the gameons one by one, and dropping them into the ceramic bowl that didn't really have a use until now. I walked into the kitchen and started to boil some water. Maybe dinner will get his spirits up, food always does the trick, but my stomach started to burn, and I began to feel anxious.  I kept on preparing dinner, ignoring the feeling that something was going to happen. About fifteen minutes later I had cando slices ready, and some vegetables boiling. I walked to Daano's door and knocked. "Daano, dinner is almost ready." There was a small pause then. "I'm not hungry." I smirked, a little nudging and he'll be at the table in no time. "Okay, but more cando for me. Mmmmm-mmmm! Can you smell it cooking? It sure smells good to-" I was interrupted by another more forced, "I said I'm Not Hungry!" 

                I rolled my eyes, opened the door and looked to see him on his bed with his head under the rest cushion. "C'mon Daano. Don't be like this, let's just eat some dinner and forget about the whole ordeal tonight okay?" He rolled over and looked at me through squinted eyes. "I didn't lose." I was beginning to get exasperated by his childish nonsense. "Daano, you have to grow up! You can't do things against the rules, and you can't just go betting on pod races as you please!" 

                He sat up in his bed. "You're not a grown up either! Your only nine and your not my mother! Your too busy trying to take care of me, you never look and see that you're a kid too! So naaaaaaa!" He stuck his tongue out at me and crossed his arms. I huffed, "Well, your only seven, and you act like a three year old! So…so Naaaaa!" I stuck my tongue out also! "Fine, don't eat dinner, for all I care you can starve!"

He jumped up, "Fine!"

                "Fine!"

                "Fine!"

                I turned around swiftly, letting my long auburn hair almost hit his face, and left, being sure to slam the door on the way out. Just outside his door I folded my arms and rolled my eyes, "Kids…" I walked into the kitchen and turned off the boiling water, drained the vegetables, and put them in the rack to keep overnight. I took the cando, wrapped it up and put it on the rack as well. I sat down at the table and leaned on my hand. Thinking to myself, _What did I do wrong? I know, I know. I shouldn't have yelled at him, after all…he didn't get caught, right? No, Wrong! Betting is wrong and I know it, he knows it, he isn't supposed to do that! But…grrrrr! _

                I wished that I knew what to do. One part of me was jumping for joy at the fact that we had enough money to free ourselves. The other half spitting mad that Daano disobeyed me, and almost lost everything we had. But which side to listen to? As I sat there and thought, my mind drifted back to Skywalker. I just couldn't place the name. My mind went through a little file of all the last names that I knew, but somehow I couldn't think of it. 

                Suddenly my father popped into my head. No, his last name was Nigh. But someone near him was Skywalker…but whom? Just then, I thought of it. _Skywalker!!! Of course, why didn't I see it before, that was my uncle's last name. So that means that…wait what was his name, oh yeah, Anakin Skywalker must be related to my uncle, but how? My uncle didn't have any children, he wasn't allowed to, unless…_

                See, my father ran off, away from my mother while she was pregnant with Daano, and he said that one day he would return to us. He was breaking Jedi law by loving my mother, and he tried to cover it, by erasing it from my mother's memory, so she wouldn't be hurt. He missed someone's memory…me. I remember everything. But I missed something that I should have known. My father and his brother, having the last name Skywalker, both fell in love with women, my uncle must have done the same thing with Anakin's mother. So that makes Anakin and I…cousins? I couldn't believe it. I had a relative living right next to me and I didn't even know it. While thinking I drifted off into a restless sleep, still sitting at the kitchen table. 

                Little did I know the activities going on in the house while I was not awake.

I woke up the next morning and had an ache in my neck from sleeping with my head on the table. I got up and stretched. Looked at the sun and realized that Daano and I were late for Labor! I ran to Daano's door, still rubbing sleep out of my eyes, and knocked, "Daano, get up! Were late." No answer. I figured that he was still asleep. I knocked again, a little bit harder, "C'mon, Get Up!!!" Still nothing. I pushed open the door and saw that he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Daano was gone. 

                The first thought into my head was, oh no…he ran away. But, I ran into the living room and all of the coins were still there. He wouldn't have left without the money. I don't know how I knew, but sometimes I get instincts and I just have to listen to them. Daano was kidnapped. I ran back into his room and sat on his bed, burying my head in my hands, and I began to cry. I had no intention of going to labor that day. Not after Daano was gone. I don't know why, but I was waiting for a sign, and I thought it better not to go and look for him. It was nearly noon when all of a sudden our communicator in Daano's room turned on.

                A shadowy figure in a black hood appeared. "If you want your brother back you must do as I say." I looked up, wiping tears away, and sniffing. I became angry. "Who are you!? Where's Daano?!" He smiled, a sickening maniacal smile. "You will get him back in all due time. First you must agree to do everything that I tell you." I paused for a moment. "How do I know that you even have Daano? …And that he's still alive?" 

                The figure waved his hand off to the side, and I heard some struggling. My lip quavered, and I knew it was Daano. Then I heard his earpiercing cry. A cry of hopelessness and despair. A cry that begged for my help. I couldn't bare to listen to it, "STOP!!!" I screamed at the hologram. The dull bluish-grey of the picture made me nautious. Was it because I was near obvious evil, or because I hadn't looked at a hologram for a very long time? No matter, I wanted to kill it, right then and there. 

                The figure waved his hand again, and the crying ceased. "Good, I sense much anger in you, young apprentice." I just stared at him, "What do you mean?" I said it with much indecisiveness. I would have liked to sound more confident. "You are my new apprentice, and you must do what I tell you to do, if you ever want to see your brother again." I had to think for a moment before I realized what he meant. "You mean, I am to become a Jedi?" 

                At the time I didn't understand that Jedi's were good, and this mission was strictly of the dark side. He chuckled, "Much more, young apprentice, much more. You will be more powerful than any other Jedi." I had to stop and think for a moment. I felt like he was just giving me words when he said I would be powerful. I hadn't experienced power in my entire life, this is why his deal appealed to me. 

For a moment my mind wandered away from Daano, and was excited about the fact I would be going somewhere to learn to use the force, and maybe even a lightsaber! But my temporary thrill was shaken back to Daano. "What if I do not agree?" This wasn't much of a question. "Then Daano dies, and you will be a slave for the rest of your life." I sighed. I'd do anything to get Daano back. And maybe a little power wouldn't be too bad either. "Very well. What must I do?"

                "You have made a wise decision. There is a ship in the outskirts of town. I am not certain as to when it will be leaving, which is why you must hurry. Leave as soon as possible, and take a communicator I will guide you as you go." I could tell that the transmission was about to cut out and then I remembered the chip that assures no slave runs away. "Wait…" I hesitated, "Master…what about the chip?" a lump formed in my throat. He smiled, which didn't make things any better. "Aaaah yes…the chip, to assure you do not run away." He stuck his hand out in front of him and formed it into a fist.

                I felt my insides being squeezed, and I became light headed. It was hard to breathe, and I was being suffocated. I gasped, and he let go. I fell to the ground and held my stomach. Just then I began to cough, and felt blood in my mouth, I spit it to the ground. I felt a lump coming up my throat, and I spit something metal and heavy out onto the floor, it was in a small pool of blood. 

                The sound of beeping came to my ears, and I realized that I had spit out the chip, and it had been detonated. I looked around the room frantically, as the beeping increased speed. Finally I dove out the door as the chip exploded, sending metal flying around the room in all directions, and a small fire had been lit on a near by blanket. I turned around wide eyed, and stunned. I ran over and stomped the blanket, putting out the small fire. I sighed in relief, but coughed, and wiped some blood from my lips. That explosion could have been me.

                My thoughts were interrupted by the hologram, my master, whom I had almost forgotten was still there. "Hurry, I expect you to be out of town quickly." The transmission ended and I was left there alone in Daano's room, wondering if he had detonated the chip on purpose. But then I realized what I must do. I ran into the living room where my tote bag was still laying by the door. I looked and saw the money in the bowl on the table, and I almost reached for it, but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to need it.

                I grabbed some clothes, in my room and ran out the door, not looking back. I passed the shop were I would have been doing labor had this not happened, and while running I passed many places I spent most of my free time. I wondered what it would be like to not be a slave anymore, fantasizing huge exciting galactic battles, in star fighters. 

I was in the outskirts of town now, and it was quite windy. The sky was beautiful, like someone had painted it. An unnatural even shade of light blue. I was finally glad I was leaving, but the cause wasn't so uplifting. I took out my communicator, and waited for directions. I didn't see my master this time, but I heard him. "A little bit further, and there will be a ship. Wait for the back to open and sneak into the cargo hold." I paused, "whose ship is it?" I began to wonder if I should even trust this hooded mystery, but it was the only thing I had to go on. I sighed, realizing that from this moment on my life would never be the same again. My thoughts were interrupted by his deep scratchy, but young voice. A voice I decided I should get used to hearing. 

                "It belongs to the republic, but there are a Couple of Jedi on it, be mindful."

                "Yes master." End of transmission.


End file.
